Self: Canada good for KU / LJWorld.com

Archive for Wednesday, September 3, 2008

September 3, 2008

Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self returned to work Tuesday with pleasant thoughts of his team's Labor Day-weekend trip to Canada.

"As long as NCAA legislation stays the same, absolutely we'll do it again. I don't know if it'd be Ottawa (again), but it's certainly something that's been good for us. It's so easy," Self said of making the short trip north of the border.

His Jayhawks are 6-0 all-time in Canada, winning three games over the 2004 Labor Day weekend in Vancouver and three more in Ontario this year. The NCAA allows trips to foreign countries once every four years.

"The lowlight (of the trip) was Brady tweaking his ankle. He needs the minutes, the competition," Self said of sophomore guard Brady Morningstar, who sprained his right ankle after hitting a 15-foot jump shot to close the first half of Saturday's 84-83 victory over Carleton. Morningstar didn't play the rest of that game or Game Three against Ottawa on Sunday.

"The highlight was, our three leading scorers were all newcomers. The biggest concern to me going in was, 'Can we score?' We'll do it by committee again, but if the three leading scorers on the trip were all newcomers, that's a positive."

Freshman guard/forward Travis Releford led the Jayhawks with a 14.3 scoring average off 69.6 percent shooting. Freshman point guard Tyshawn Taylor averaged 13.7 points off 59.3 percent shooting, and juco transfer Mario Little averaged 12.7 points off 65.2 percent marksmanship.

"We'll play through Cole (Aldrich, 12.0 ppg) and Sherron (Collins, 10 points in one game). But from my vantage point, getting points out of the newcomers was great," Self said.

Both Morningstar and Little (stress fracture, lower-left leg) will sit out a week to two weeks.

"Brady's (sprain) is not major. Mario will also take some time off to complete the healing process. He was not as explosive as he'll be," Self said of the Chicago junior.

Self said the Jayhawks responded well in beating McGill, 72-67; Carleton, 84-83; and Ottawa, 95-60.

"I was pleased with the overall attitude of the team," Self said. "The guys tried hard. I got on them early (in first game), and they responded.

Notes: There was no word from the NCAA Clearinghouse on Tuesday concerning the eligibility of the Marcus and Markieff Morris ... Michael Snaer, a 6-4 senior guard from Moreno Valley, Calif., tells Rivals.com he'll visit Missouri, Florida State and Marquette. KU, UCLA and Stanford complete his list.

Here are statistics from Kansas University's basketball players on their just-completed trip to Canada. Listed are points per game, rebounds per game, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted.

Travis Releford 14.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 16-23 shooting (69.6 percent), 8-17 free throwing (47.1 percent).

Tyshawn Taylor 13.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 16-27 shooting (59.3 percent), 9-12 free throwing (75 percent).

Mario Little 12.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 15-23 shooting (65.2 percent), 8-9 free throwing (88.9 percent).

Cole Aldrich 12.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 12-20 shooting (60.0 percent), 12-13 free throwing (92.3 percent).

Sherron Collins 10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 5-12 shooting (41.7 percent), 0-2 free throwing.

Tyrel Reed 8.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 8-16 shooting (50 percent), 7-7 free throwing.

Quintrell Thomas 7.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 7-14 shooting (50 percent), 8-15 free throwing (53.3 percent).

Conner Teahan 4.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 4-13 shooting (30.8 percent), 1-2 free throwing (50 percent).

Brady Morningstar 3.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 3-10 shooting (30 percent), no free throws.

Brennan Bechard 2.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2-4 shooting (50 percent), no free throws.

Matt Kleinmann 2.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 3-4 shooting (75 percent), no free throws.

Tyrone Appleton 1.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2-8 shooting (25 percent, 0-2 free throwing.

Chase Buford 1.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1-3 shooting (33.3 percent), no free throws.

Totals 83.7 ppg to opponents' 70.0 ppg; 39.3 rpg to opponents' 26.3 rpg.

Three-pointers: Releford 3-5, Reed 3-9, Teahan 3-10, Bechard 1-2, Collins 0-1, Buford 0-1, Morningstar 0-2, Taylor 0-5. Total 10 of 35 (28.6 percent) to opponents' 28 of 70 (40 percent).

Assist leaders: Little 8, Reed 7, Taylor 6, Morningstar 4.

Turnovers leaders: Aldrich 10, Taylor 8, Little 7, Reed 6, Teahan 5.

Blocks leaders: Aldrich 9.

Steals leaders: Aldrich 5, Reed 5, Thomas 4.

Fouls leaders: Thomas 12, Taylor 9, Little 8, Aldrich 8, Teahan 8.